Meadow
by taytea
Summary: Bella and Edward spend a morning at their meadow.


The Meadow

We hadn't visited our meadow in so long. So much had occurred in such a short time that we had neglected our meadow. Edward and I went there today. He still shimmered like diamonds but I too looked like a multi-faceted diamond, the early morning sun shining off our smooth skin and casting rainbows all around us. We laid our heads in the emerald grass and let the cool, damp earth envelope us. We looked up at the sky and at each other, hands twisted into each other and our torso and legs turned as if there was a gravitational pull that kept our bodies close.

I was thinking about the path my life had taken and happiness that had resulted in deciding to move from Arizona to Washington State. In human years, not much time had elapsed but in my new form, it felt like seconds. I was still me but better and able to love with all my heart and soul. Edward didn't know how much he had saved me that first day in Biology or even that first glance in the lunchroom. He may have looked at me with hatred and disdain, something I couldn't understand but soon would, but something else had been there and stirred in me. He made me feel again. Looking back on my time in Pheonix, I had just been going through the motions in Arizona, I may have felt sad when I left but as soon as I saw Edward's face in Forks, I was starting to be the me that I was always meant to be.

Edward interrupted my thoughts, "I wish I knew what you were thinking in that tank of a head of yours. You ok, Bella?"

"I'm happy Edward. I was just reflecting on why we haven't been to our meadow in so long. It is so beautiful here, peaceful and serene. " I stretched out my long, lean frame keeping one hand clasped in Edwards firm hand and the other stretched high over my head and looked up at the brilliant sky, not bothering to squint , wondering if Edward was going to say more.

Edward stared quietly at me for a moment, considering what it was that I may have omitted but he sighed stretching his legs in response to my shift. "I don't think that is all you were thinking but yes, it is one of my most favorite places in the world and it's always been ours. Even when I came alone, I was waiting for you. Tell me, Bella, what else are you thinking?"

I tried to not look guilty as I turned to face the most beautiful creature that I had ever met and sighed in satisfaction that he belonged to me. I was sure Edward would misconstrue my sigh to mean annoyance but he turned to look at me, his knees touching mine and waited patiently for my response. It was one thing that I loved about him, his patience.

I reached out and stroked his marble skin, starting about the brow and ending at this collarbone right above his fashionable Alice chosen collar. "Edward, most of the time, I wish you were able to read my mind, like you do everyone else but there are times that my thoughts are private and meant only for me." Edward shifted slightly in embarrassment but I clenched my fingers lightly on his shoulder and continued, "I was thinking that the first time I met you in the cafeteria, I was being saved. We had only just started to become aware of each other and we didn't even like each other to start. I was thinking," I took a deep breath feeling the air rush in but not pleasing the lungs and loosened my grip on his shirt and went back to touching his perfect face, "was that you were saving me from my disillusioned life. Here I was, thinking that life was grand the way it was but in reality, I was just biding my time. I was in Arizona to please Renee, I moved to Forks so she could be saved and I started my trip toward salvation the day I laid eyes on you." I leaned forward and kissed Edward lightly on the lips, punctuating my point.

He loosened his hand that to this moment had been tangled in mine and moved to circle my waist and pull me closer. He took the kiss that I started and deepened it so that the intoxicating buzz in my head moved down to my toes and back up to swirl in my belly. "Oh Bella, I have been searching centuries for you." He murmured, his breath catching in his throat as his hands moved expertly over my body, enjoying the smoothness of my satin skin, the roughness of my jeans and the thin light cotton that stood in our way. It didn't stand for long.

The sun moved to a higher position in the sky and created more shadows at the outskirts of the meadow. We untangled ourselves a little and stared into each other's eyes for what seemed like a lifetime. We both signed in pleasure not only at the moment in time that had presented itself perfectly but in the way our souls were entwined. Edward had thankfully stopped believing he was soulless the moment Nessie had been born. His soul was tied very closely to her and I, he had come to the realization that he was not the monster that he once assumed. My beautiful Edward stroked my back as I tucked myself into his marble chest and he laid fairy kisses on the top of my hair. I could stay here all day, unashamed, basking in the warm rays, gentle breeze and the quiet. I shifted out of this chest and propped myself up on my elbows and Edward shifted to match my body language, knowing that our time at the meadow was coming to an end.

"I think that we should probably get back home. Someone is bound to miss us. It's hard to believe that it has been months since we have come to the meadow. Edward," I said turning to face him, my chestnut hair falling over my bare shoulder, "We cannot wait so long. We should bring Nessie next time but I think that we may have to change our course of action" I said with a lazy grin that quickly moved to a pout.

Edward smiled so that his perfect teeth showed and his smile reached up to his eyes. He moved one hand to lay his hand over mine, "You are a wise one but always trying to remove the fun out of the meadow." He turned to look into the woods at the edge of the meadow and slowly sat up to put on his now rumpled clothes, "Nessie will love this place. She most likely will want to bring Jacob here with us but I think that we should keep it just for the three of us."

"I think that is a good idea. Eventually Jacob and Nessie will have their own spot to cherish forever." I sighed at the thought of my best friend Jacob and our sweet, beautiful Nessie creating a home and a life together. I shook my hair as I sat up to pull on my clothes and the smell of strawberries swirled out in the immediate space around me. Edward leaned down to smell the strawberry infused air. "Nessie and Jacob is an eventual that we cannot change. You see how much she needs him as he does her. As much as I don't like it at times, he and she are like you and I. Meant for each other and no one else."

"I know but it feels like she is growing up more and more everyday and unfortunately she isn't going to give us 18 years of childhood." I stood as I adjusted the remainder of my also very rumpled clothes and laughed. "Do you think that we can get away with telling Alice that we were attacked by a runaway wolf?"

Edward chuckled and continued "Bella, you know as I do that Jacob is the one person in the world that will care for Nessie like no other. His love for her has done wonders for our relationship with the Wolves. We have become an alliance like no other." He stepped forward and embraced me with his strong and capable arms. "We need to thank our lucky stars for Jacob. He will protect Nessie, our respective secrets and love her, like I do you, to our last days."

I snuggled into his chest and murmured, "You are so smart, I need a few more centuries to get up to your intelligence level." I leaned back from Edward's fragrant body, inhaled deep and let his scent linger in my lungs. "You're right of course Edward I am just being selfish with her like I am with you and I don't want to leave our meadow today." I tipped my head and gazed into two topaz pools and leaned forward to brush my lips against his waiting and responsive ones. His hold tightened to me but he released just as quickly, grabbing my hand and starting us off toward the far edge of the meadow. "We have a lifetime of centuries to spend here. As for Nessie, she will live far beyond her 18 years and then some. We have no need to worry about time or distance."

We walked hand in hand watching the shadows come closer as the edge of the meadow became clearer and the woods more defined. I grinned up at the most handsome husband in the world and practically purred in satisfaction as we disappeared into the woods toward Nessie, Jacob and our family.


End file.
